EVP for Analytics Hiring Managers

Introduction to Employee Value Proposition (EVP) and why you need one in the quest for talent.

by Alex White

Senior Partner, Talent & Research 8th Feb 2017

One topic that we frequently discuss with heads of hiring in Analytics and Insights departments is the importance of building-out an employer brand to gain visibility when seeking to attract talent.

This begins with defining your Employee Value Proposition, or ‘EVP’. In this article I will aim to simplify the definition and meaning of developing an EVP talent strategy and why it is crucial for hiring managers to have one that is positioned at the core of your employer branding.

The definition of an EVP

The ‘Employer Value Proposition’ is a manifestation of your brand identity, its about showcasing the attributes that sets you apart from both direct, and indirect competition in the quest for talent in a highly competitive candidate-led market.

A well constructed EVP clearly defines your character and values, the benefits that you have to offer, in terms of working with innovative products and services, career development, compensation, and benefits. It should seek to answer:

What makes the idea of working for you so compelling?

What can you offer that improves the quality of work/life balance for employee’s?

What would make talent choose you over the competition and what can you do to retain them?

In simple terms, its a contract that protects the interests of both the employee and employer. It outlines the attitudinal behaviours and values of what is mutually expected between both parties, and what the benefit is to the employee.

An EVP is important for any business or organisation as it enables you to build upon your brand capital and positions you for attracting high quality analytics and insight talent in to the business.

How to define your EVP?

It doesn’t need to be complicated, or ‘too clever’, and you probably already have a grasp of your USP’s. For simplification, you can break it down in to three key components:

1. Be ‘forward facing’ on where you are looking to lead the business

A smart EVP will support and reaffirm the key messages within your overall business strategy. Its important to stay close to the original brand message and then set to work on writing an EVP strategy that is people centric, taking into account the experience and competencies that are necessary for implementation and roll-out. If there is not a solid foundation for both the strategic vision and the human capital requirement, the value proposition is unlikely to be successful in attracting and keeping the quantity and quality of people that the business crucially needs.

Aggregate and examine all of the data that you currently have, relative to areas of employee management, look at data on engagement and exit surveys, along with your in-house statistics on recruitment and talent management. Seek to identify visible trends and recurring events – ask ‘what do employee’s value about life within the business’, and consider what the data is telling you about how employees think the company or organisation could improve upon in specific areas.

Through active listening and response we are confident that this will deliver essential insight. Furthermore, it is important not to overlook inviting employee participation into the formulation of your EVP, this is best achieved by running regular workshops that invite employees from all divisions and levels within the business to play a part in creating a feedback loop that is in step with changes within the business.

3. Build and educate

With all aspects of your EVP proposition taken into account, you can begin to work on the architecture of your proposition. Consider the following:

What makes working for you so enjoyable and satisfying?

How can you improve the quality of daily experiences of your insights and analytics employees?

What makes this an exceptional place to work?

You might take the approach of producing a straight-forward and all encompassing statement, one that succinctly encapsulates the spirit of your employee experience and employer brand.

However you choose to approach it, seek to develop a consistent narrative, one that bridges the EVP with the company vision. The basic foundations of your proposition should reference the tangible aspects that go in to making up the agreement between employee and employer:

Shared values

It is essential to ensure that your present brand values support the EVP message and that those combined values come in to play daily, and are constantly upheld.

An Equitable Deal

What support are you giving to your employees’ development and well-being? Are there real opportunities for career progression through structured learning and development opportunities, superior healthcare and medical cover, social and community partnerships, performance incentives, reward programmes and tertiary benefits such as flexible home working, or discounted products and services?

Establishing your EVP is essential and should serve as the basis for your employer brand, but how you deliver that message is essential if you are going to inspire and engage your insight and analytics employees.

A strong employer brand enables companies and organisations to compete for top percentile analytics and insights talent, and helps to establish credibility within your industry vertical. It must bridge an organisation’s values and should serve as a consistent statement of values relative to talent management and acquisition

If you would like further advice on how you can define and develop your employer brand, please connect with us.

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Author - Alex White

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